Global birth rates have rapidly rebounded in advanced economies since dropping dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Birth rates began to seriously drop late in 2020 as the COVID-19 lockdowns confined people to their residences, worsening the demographic trend of population decline, according to a new report by the Financial Times. The drop in birth rates mirrors trends witnessed after the 1918 flu pandemic, the Great Depression, and the financial crisis of 2008, according to the outlet.
“The short-term decline in births observed in many countries is consistent with other historical crises . . . but in the case of Covid-19, these declines have been more short lived,” the United Nations reported in late 2021. The new analysis by the Financial Times suggests that government spending helped recover the birth rates in the United States.
“Fertility declines during and immediately after economic crises are caused by couples postponing childbearing due to rising unemployment, increasing job insecurity and reduced household income. The monetary stimulus from governments in some countries helped to prevent sharp fertility drops early in the pandemic,” UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs Karoline Schmid told the outlet.
Birth rates plunged as Covid-19 took hold and people were confined to their homes in lockdown, worsening the already perilous demographic trend https://t.co/pJcumQTZLx pic.twitter.com/uiz5Ltnak1
— Financial Times (@FinancialTimes) April 18, 2022
In a poll earlier in 2022, it was found that 26 percent of Americans hadn’t had sex in the last year. Fifty percent of respondents stated they had sex once a month or less, the highest recorded statistic for sexless, or almost sexless, Americans, CNN reported.
Nine months after the first lockdowns were imposed globally, China, France, Italy, and other countries reported the lowest birth rates on record, the Financial Times reported. Many developed countries already have fertility rates below the reproductive requirement of 2.1 children (on average), according to the outlet. (RELATED: NASA Confirms They’ve Found The ‘Largest Comet Ever’)
These rates dropped further during the pandemic, but the birth rates started to recover late in 2021, the analysis continued. Birth rates in England and Wales actually increased for the first time in six years, according to the data.